ECS Reveals Lineup of CS:GO Teams for Season 5

The Esports Championship Series (ECS), FACEIT’s premiere Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) league, has revealed the full lineup of teams from North America and Europe that will compete in Season 5 for a slice of the $750,000 USD prize pool. Returning to SSE Arena, Wembley for the Season 5 Finals, the league kicks off on March 13, 2018 and will see Season 4 champions, FaZe Clan, try to defend their title against previous ECS winners SK Gaming, Astralis and G2 Esports, among others. Fans can catch all the action live exclusively on FACEIT’s official YouTube Gaming channel.

The ECS Challenger Cup, the new format for teams to qualify to compete in ECS, saw four new teams earn their place in ECS Season 5. PGL Major winner Gambit secured its place in ECS by winning the European Challenger cup, followed by GODSENT holding onto its place in ECS after defeating Na’Vi in the lower bracket final. In North America, three positions were open for qualification. CompLexity and Rogue both went undefeated in the playoff brackets to earn their spots, while eUnited defeated TeamOne in the lower bracket final for the third and final place in ECS Season 5.

The full list of teams to compete in ECS Season 5 are as follows:

European teams

Astralis

FaZe Clan

Fnatic

G2 Esports

Gambit

GODSENT

Mousesports

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Team EnVyUs

Virtus.pro

North American teams

Cloud9

CompLexity

eUnited

Luminosity Gaming

NRG Esports

OpTic Gaming

Renegades

Rogue

SK Gaming

Team Liquid

New teams participating in Season 5 of ECS will have the opportunity to sign up for co-ownership in the league and the opportunity to select representation on the league’s governing committee. The ECS is providing a collective $1.25M for Season 5 that will go toward the league’s prize pool and supportive funds that will provide player and team stability. This includes helping organizations provide better salaries, facilities and equipment that will improve the overall conditions and welfare for players, while furnishing the ecosystem of the ECS with a more structured framework to operate within.